In a strange technical glitch, the official phone number of the White House switchboard appeared on some Android devices as "Epstein Island". The bizarre naming error was discovered by journalists at The Washington Post who were attempting to contact the White House regarding First Lady Melania Trump's recent event surrounding a humanoid robot.
The calls reached the correct White House number, but some Washington Post journalists saw the Epstein Island label appear on their screen instead of "White House". The report notes that this issue only affected Android users, while iPhone users continued to see the normal name.
As for the original reason behind the phone call, the reporters were seeking details on the First Lady's outfit during her summit alongside a humanoid robot. A spokesperson later confirmed she was wearing a Dolce & Gabbana pantsuit and Christian Louboutin heels.
Google reacts to controversy: Soon after the glitchy name started popping up on Android devices, Google confirmed the issue in a statement to the Post. A Google spokesperson, Matthew Flegal, explained that the company identified a "fake edit" within Google Maps that was briefly picked up by the call identification feature on certain Android devices.
Flegal also confirmed that the company reversed the edit because it violated Google's policies, and the user responsible has been blocked from making further changes. After the changes were made, calling the White House switchboard from a Pixel device only showed the telephone number without a name.
An anonymous White House official also confirmed to The Post that the call screen name was an external issue entirely unrelated to internal White House systems.
What is Epstein Island? "Epstein Island" is the nickname for Little Saint James, the private Caribbean estate of the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. The island was owned by Epstein from 1998 until his death in federal custody in 2019. Federal prosecutors have earlier said that Epstein, a registered sex offender, had bought the island to take advantage of its seclusion and that it acted as a hub for his expansive criminal empire, where Epstein and his associates trafficked, trapped, and sexually abused women and girls for almost two decades.
US President Donald Trump has earlier admitted that he knew Epstein socially before the two had a falling out in the mid-2000s. Trump has also said that he knew nothing about Epstein's criminal behaviour.